US Ambassador Dan Shapiro visits the Battle Management & Control (BMC) unit of the Iron Dome

Iron Dome (Hebrew: כִּפַּת בַּרְזֶל‬, kippat barzel) is a mobile all-weather air defense system[8] developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries.[7] The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells fired from distances of 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to 70 kilometres (43 mi) away and whose trajectory would take them to a populated area.[9][10] Israel hopes to increase the range of Iron Dome's interceptions, from the current maximum of 70 kilometres (43 mi) to 250 kilometres (160 mi) and make it more versatile so that it could intercept rockets coming from two directions simultaneously.[11]

Iron Dome was declared operational and initially deployed on 27 March 2011 near Beersheba.[12] On 7 April 2011, the system successfully intercepted a BM-21 Grad launched from Gaza for the first time.[13] On 10 March 2012, The Jerusalem Post reported that the system shot down 90% of rockets launched from Gaza that would have landed in populated areas.[10] By November 2012, official statements indicated that it had intercepted 400+ rockets.[14][15] By late October 2014, the Iron Dome systems had intercepted over 1,200 rockets.[16]

In addition to their land-based deployment, Iron Dome batteries will in the future be deployed at sea, where they will protect off-shore gas platforms in conjunction with Israel's Barak 8 missile system.[17]

Background

Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, fired rockets into northern Israeli population centers in the 1990s, posing a security challenge for the Israel Defense Forces. Israel had floated the idea of its own short-range antimissile system, but U.S. defense officials cautioned that it would be "doomed to fail".[19]

In 2004, the idea for Iron Dome gained momentum with the installation of Brig. Gen. Daniel Gold as the head of the research and development bureau of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Gold was a strong backer of the antimissile project, even skirting army contracting regulations to secure financing.[19] He also helped persuade key politicians to support the project.[19]

During the 2006 Second Lebanon War, approximately 4,000 Hezbollah-fired rockets (the great majority of which were short-range Katyusha rockets) landed in northern Israel, including on Haifa, the country's third largest city. The rocket barrage killed 44 Israeli civilians[20] and caused some 250,000 Israeli citizens to evacuate and relocate to other parts of Israel while an estimated 1 million Israelis were confined in or near bomb shelters during the conflict.[21]

To the south, more than 8,000 projectiles (estimated at 4,000 rockets and 4,000 mortar bombs) were fired indiscriminately into Israeli population centers from Gaza between 2000 and 2008, principally by Hamas. Almost all of the rockets fired were Qassams launched by 122 mm Grad launchers smuggled into the Gaza Strip, giving longer range than other launch methods. Nearly a million Israelis living in the south were within rocket range, posing a serious security threat to the country and its citizens.[22]

In February 2007, Defense MinisterAmir Peretz selected Iron Dome as Israel's defense against this short-range rocket threat.[23] Since then, the 210 million (US) system has been developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems working jointly with the IDF.[24]

Etymology

Project leader Colonel S. and his team in the Administration for the Development of Weapons and Technological Infrastructure (Maf'at) had very little spare time, and only on the weekends could they think of an appropriate name for the system. According to Colonel S., "The first name I thought of was 'Anti-Qassam', but when the project started to move forward I realized it was problematic... I sat down with my wife, and together we thought of suitable names. She suggested the name 'Tamir' (Hebrew acronym for טיל מיירט, Til Meyaret, 'interceptor missile') for the missile, and for the system itself we thought of 'Golden Dome'. The following Sunday, 'Tamir' was immediately approved, but there was a problem with 'Golden Dome'—it could be perceived as ostentatious. So it was changed to 'Iron Dome'."[14][15]

Specifications

The system is designed to counter short-range rockets and 155 mm artillery shells with a range of up to 70 kilometers. According to its manufacturer, Iron Dome will operate day and night, under adverse weather conditions, and can respond to multiple threats simultaneously.[1]

Battle Management & Weapon Control (BMC): the control center is built for Rafael by mPrest Systems, an Israeli software company.

An example of an interceptor missile used by Iron Dome.

Missile Firing Unit: the unit launches the Tamir interceptor missile, equipped with electro-optic sensors and several steering fins for high maneuverability. The missile is built by Rafael.[25]

The system's radar is referred to as EL/M-2084. It detects the rocket's launch and tracks its trajectory. The BMC calculates the impact point according to the reported data, and uses this information to determine whether the target constitutes a threat to a designated area. Only when that threat is determined, is an interceptor missile fired to destroy the incoming rocket before it reaches the predicted impact area.[24]

Comparison to a typical battery

The typical air defense missile battery consists of a radar unit, missile control unit, and several launchers, all located at the same site.

Conversely, Iron Dome is built to deploy in a scattered pattern. Each launcher, containing 20 interceptors, is independently deployed and operated remotely via a secure wireless connection.[26] Reportedly, each iron dome battery is capable of protecting an urban area of approximately 150 square kilometers.[27]

Funding

The initial funding and development of the Iron Dome system was provided and undertaken by Israel.[28] This allowed for the deployment of the first two Iron Dome systems.[29] Subsequently, funding for an additional eight Iron Dome systems—along with funding for a supply of interception missiles—is currently being provided by the United States, with two of these additional systems having been delivered by 2012.[29] Funding for the production and deployment of these additional Iron Dome batteries and interceptor missiles was approved by the United States Congress, after being requested by President Obama in 2010.[30] In May 2010, the White House announced that U.S. President Barack Obama would seek $205 million from U.S. Congress in his 2011 budget, to spur the production and deployment of additional Iron Dome batteries. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor stated, "The president recognizes the threat missiles and rockets fired by Hamas and Hezbollah pose to Israelis, and has therefore decided to seek funding from Congress to support the production of Israel's short range rocket defense system called Iron Dome." This would be the first direct U.S. investment in the project.[30] Such financial assistance could expedite the completion of the defensive system, which has long been delayed by budgetary shortfalls.[31] A few days later, on 20 May 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the funding in a 410–4 vote.[32] The bill, the United States–Israel Missile Defense Cooperation and Support Act (H.R. 5327), was sponsored by Representative Glenn C. Nye of Virginia.[33] This money was expected to be included in the 2011 budget. Once the money was received in 2011, it still took a further 18 months before the additional batteries were delivered to the air force.[34]

On 9 May 2011, Haaretz published that Defense Ministry director general Maj. Gen. (res.) Udi Shani said that Israel plans to invest nearly $1 billion in the coming years for the development and production of Iron Dome batteries. "We are no longer approaching this in terms of initial operational capabilities but are defining the final target for absorbing the systems, in terms of schedule and funds. We are talking about [having] 10–15 Iron Dome batteries. We will invest nearly $1 billion on this. This is the goal, in addition to the $205 million that the U.S. government has authorized," Shani said.[35]

On 4 April 2012, Reuters reported that a senior Israeli official, during a briefing to a small group of journalists on condition of anonymity, predicted an increased interception range of up to 250 km, as well as more flexible aiming of Iron Dome units, thus lowering the number of batteries needed for full deployment in Israel. That would help Israel to cope with the prospect of reduced funding from the United States, while a "new round" of talks about missile-defense funding would be completed in two to three months, he anticipated. While praising American largess, the official said US planners have asked Israel to "point out honestly where the upper limit is in terms of what can be implemented" with the Iron Dome. He said the US is "deep in (fiscal) challenges itself", so it does not want to "give money for the sake of it".[36]

In exchange for the second tranche of deployment funding, the United States is asking Israel for access to, and a stake in, elements of the system's technology.[37]

On 17 May 2012, when Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, the Pentagon issued a statement from the Secretary saying in part, "I was pleased to inform Minister Barak that the President supports Israel's Iron Dome system and directed me to fill the $70 million in assistance for Iron Dome that Minister Barak indicated to me Israel needs this fiscal year."[38]

On 18 May 2012, the United States House of Representatives passed the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, H.R. 4310, with $680 million for Iron Dome in Section 227. The report accompanying the bill, 112–479, also calls for technology sharing as well as co-production of Iron Dome in the United States in light of the nearly $900 million invested in the system since 2011.

SECTION 227, IRON DOME SHORT-RANGE ROCKET DEFENSE PROGRAM, would authorize $680.0 million for the Iron Dome system in fiscal years 2012–15 in PE 63913C for procurement of additional batteries and interceptors, and for operations and sustainment expenses. This section would also require the Director, Missile Defense Agency to establish within MDA a program office for cooperative missile defense efforts on the Iron Dome system to ensure long-term cooperation on this program.
The committee is aware that National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 (Public Law 111-383) included $205.0 million for the Iron Dome short-range rocket defense system for the State of Israel. The committee notes that the Iron Dome system has proven very effective at defeating threat rockets launched at protected targets. The committee also notes that if the full $680.0 million is used on the program, the total U.S. taxpayer investment in this system will amount to nearly $900.0 million since fiscal year 2011, yet the United States has no rights to the technology involved. The committee believes the Director should ensure, prior to disbursing the authorized $680 million for Iron Dome, that the United States has appropriate rights to this technology for United States defense purposes, subject to an agreement with the Israeli Missile Defense Organization, and in a manner consistent with prior U.S.–Israeli missile defense cooperation on the Arrow and David's Sling suite of systems. The committee also believes that the Director should explore any opportunity to enter into co-production of the Iron Dome system with Israel, in light of the significant U.S. investment in this system.[39]

On 4 June 2012, the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee included $210 million for Iron Dome, in its version of the National Defense Authorization Act for 2013, S.3254. The bill has been reported out of committee and is waiting to be assigned a date for consideration by the full Senate.[40]

SEC. 237, AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS FOR IRON DOME SHORT-RANGE ROCKET DEFENSE PROGRAM, said that of the amounts authorized to be appropriated for fiscal year 2013 by section 201 for research, development, test, and evaluation, defense-wide, and available for the Missile Defense Agency, $210,000,000 may be provided to the Government of Israel for the Iron Dome short-range rocket defense program as specified in the funding table in section 4201.

On January 17, 2014, President Barack Obama signed the fiscal year 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The bill provides $235 million for Israel to procure the Iron Dome system.[41] The Israeli government has also agreed to spend more than half the funds the United States provides for the Iron Dome system in the United States. Funds going to U.S. contractors will increase to 30 percent in 2014 and 55 percent in 2015 from 3 percent previously, according to a U.S. Missile Defense Agency report to Congress.[42]

On August 1, 2014, Congress approved a measure to deliver an additional $225 million in aid to Israel, with the aim of replenishing funds for the Iron Dome system in the midst of the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Following the signing of bill, for which "the Senate and House of Representatives as well as Republicans and Democrats set[ting] aside differences to advance Israel’s emergency request," the White House stated that "The United States has been clear since the start of this conflict that no country can abide rocket attacks against its civilians" and that it "supports Israel’s right to defend itself against such attacks."[43][44] Senate Report 113-211 from the U.S. Government Publishing Office, which accompanied text H.R. 4870,[45] recommended an increase in funding for the program for FY-2015. The report calculates "U.S. investment in Iron Dome production since fiscal year 2011" to be over $1 billion.[46]

Plans for co-production with the United States

With the United States on track to greatly increase funding for Iron Dome, there have been calls for technology transfer and co-production of Iron Dome in the United States. Just as the US and Israel share co-production of the Arrow III missile system, with Boeing manufacturing 40–50 percent of the production content, there has been support in the U.S. Congress, media and think tanks in favor of co-production.[47] The U.S. House of Representatives included report language in its FY-2013 Defense Authorization Act supporting Iron Dome with $680 million but also instructing that the Director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, Lt. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, "should explore any opportunity to enter into co-production of the Iron Dome system with Israel, in light of the significant U.S. investment in this system."[48] There are media reports that the Pentagon is requesting similar language in the Senate Defense Authorization Act as well as the respective House and Senate defense appropriations bills for 2013.[49] Adding Iron Dome to the list of high-tech military programs built jointly by both nations would help further strengthen ties between Israel and the United States.[50]

In July 2014 it was announced that Raytheon will be the major U.S. partner in co-production of major components for the Iron Dome’s Tamir intercepting missile.[51] The U.S. firm will supply components through various subcontractors.

Development

Design

In 2005, Brig. Gen. Danny Gold, then head of
Maf'at, decided to start the program that would include the system's research and a demonstration of the intercepting system.[14][15] In 2007, Israel commissioned the development of Iron Dome, choosing Israeli contractor Rafael over the American giant Lockheed Martin. Israeli company mPrest Systems was put in charge of programming the core of Iron Dome's battle management system. Iron Dome went from the drawing board to combat readiness within less than four years, a remarkably short period of time for a weapons system designed from scratch, according to military experts.[52]

There was no system like this, anywhere in the world, in terms of capabilities, speed, accuracy. We felt like a start-up.

July 2010: The system successfully intercepted multiple rocket barrages mimicking Qassams and Katyushas. During the test, Iron Dome successfully distinguished rockets which were threats from those that would not land in designated areas and did not need to be intercepted.[59]

During the first stage of Iron Dome's operational duty, the Israeli Air Force included many soldiers from Sderot, citing high motivation among the city's pre-army youth to be part of the project.[62] The 947th "Marksmen" Stinger Battalion of the Israeli Air Defense Network was chosen as the first unit to become familiar with and operate Iron Dome.[63]

Energy weapons

Although Iron Dome has proven its effectiveness against rocket attacks, Defense Ministry officials are concerned it will not be able to handle more massive arsenals possessed by Hezbollah in Lebanon should a conflict arise. Although in Operation Protective Edge it had a 90 percent hit rate against only rockets determined to be headed for populated areas, 735 intercepts were made at a cost of $70,000–$100,000 per interceptor; with an estimated 100,000 rockets possessed by Hezbollah, Iron Dome systems could be fiscally and physically overwhelmed by dozens of incoming salvos. Directed energy weapons are being investigated as a complement to Iron Dome, and are prized for less costly defense capabilities provided both in terms of system cost and cost per shot. Solid-state lasers worldwide have power levels ranging from 10–40 kW; to destroy a rocket safely from 15–20 km (9.3–12.4 mi) away, several low-power beams could coordinate and converge on one spot to burn through its outer shell and destroy it. Because laser beams become distorted under fog or heavy cloud conditions, any laser would be used in conjunction with Iron Dome rather than as a replacement for it.[64]

In 1996, the Israelis developed the Nautilus prototype and later deployed it in Kiryat Shmona, Israel's northernmost city along the Lebanese border. It used a collection of components from other systems and succeeded in keeping a beam on the same point for two continuous seconds using an early prototype of the Green Pine radar. Nautilus succeeded in its goal to prove the concept was feasible, but it was never deployed operationally, as the government believed the cheaper alternative was sending in ground troops to stop rocket fire at their source.[64]

C-Dome

In October 2014, Rafael unveiled a naval version of the Iron Dome called C-Dome. It is designed to protect vessels in blue and littoral waters from ballistic trajectory and direct attack weapons fired in saturation attacks. C-Dome includes a 10-round canister loaded with vertically-launched Tamir interceptors for 360-degree coverage, a feature not supported by the land-based Iron Dome system; the ship's own surveillance radar is used to negate the need for a dedicated fire control radar. The system has a small footprint to enable installation on small ships like offshore patrol vessels, corvettes, and even stationary oil rigs.[66] Though in the very early stages of concept development, Rafael estimated that it could take less than a year to build a prototype C-Dome system. Preliminary discussions with potential users have already been launched.[16] The C-Dome will be used on the Israeli Navy's Sa'ar 6-class corvettes.[67] On 18 May 2016 Col. Ariel Shir, head of Israeli Naval operation systems announced that the system had successfully intercepted and destroyed a salvo of short range missiles while deployed on a naval vessel at sea.[68] On 27 November 2017, the Israeli military declared initial operational capability for the C-Dome, completing more than 18 months of integration and design work.[69]

Counter-UAV

The Iron Dome has been pitched to the IDF as a more cost-effective anti-aircraft system to intercept unmanned aerial vehicles. Some estimates of the cost of a Tamir interceptor are around $100,000, but it is still 95 percent cheaper than using a MIM-104 Patriot, the primary Israeli interceptor, costing $2–$3 million. Although the Patriot has broader coverage, the low cost of UAVs and operational scenarios they would be encountered in would make Iron Dome equally effective against them. No material upgrades would be needed to optimize the system for drone-killing missions, as this role and capability has been publicized from its inception.[70]

In July 2015, Rafael released video footage of Iron Dome interceptors destroying several low and high-flying UAVs in a test. Although some targets were destroyed by proximity-operated warheads, in others the interceptor achieved a kinetic hit. The company says the system is capable of destroying armed UAVs before they can get close enough to release their munitions, and most medium-altitude reconnaissance UAVs before they are close enough to survey an area.[71]

Other uses

In June 2016, it was revealed that the Iron Dome had been tested to successfully intercept salvos of artillery shells, which are typically difficult to destroy because of the need to penetrate the thickness of their metal casings to get to the warhead, and "multiple" air-to-ground precision guided munitions (PGMs) similar to the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM).[72]

The Iron Dome system began operating in early 2011,[61] initially deployed at air force bases in southern Israel. It was designated to be set up in other areas, such as the town of Sderot, during significant escalations along the Gaza border.[73]

2011

On 27 March 2011, Al Jazeera English reported that Iron Dome has been deployed for the first time. Brigadier-General Doron Gavish, commander of Israel's air defense corps, said Iron Dome had passed a series of tests and reached its "evaluation phase" in the field. It was stationed near Beersheba, following two rocket attacks on the area that month.[12]

On 7 April 2011, after deployment as an "operational experiment" on 3 April, the Iron Dome system in the area of Ashkelon successfully intercepted a Grad rocket fired at the city, the first time a short-range rocket fired from Gaza had been intercepted. According to reports from the area, the interception could be seen in Israeli towns near northern Gaza.[13] Immediately afterwards an IAF aircraft successfully attacked the squad that had fired the rocket. Later that day the IDF stressed that the system, though operational, was still under evaluation.[74] On 8 April the system successfully intercepted another four rockets.[75]

On 12 April, the IDF announced it would accelerate the introduction of a third Iron Dome battery. According to Haaretz, IDF officials indicated that the security establishment intended to ensure that the third battery would become available in six months, instead of the expected 18 months. According to the new plan, launchers from existing systems would be combined with other components that had already been manufactured in order to speed up the battery's production. In that way, the first operational Iron Dome battalion would come into being within six months, with batteries that could be deployed in the south or in other arenas.[76]

Also according to Haaretz, the IDF was to finalize its long-term Iron Dome acquisition program—nicknamed "Halamish"—within a few months (from April 2011), which would indicate the final number of systems to be introduced into the military. Israel Air Force officials estimated the number of Iron Dome systems needed to cover threatened areas as thirteen.[76] According to Meir Elran, a scholar at the Institute of National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, Israel would need a total of 20 batteries to provide adequate defense for its borders with Gaza and Lebanon. Such a deployment would require financial assistance from the United States, but he said that even in the original limited form, officially designated a trial period, the system was important.[52]

On 5 August 2011, the IDF redeployed the Iron Dome system near Ashkelon following days of heightened rocket fire from Gaza into Israel. The deployment came a day after Ashkelon mayor Benny Vaknin sent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak a letter asking them to redeploy the system.[77]

On 18 August 2011, four rockets were fired from Gaza at Ashkelon. The system determined that two were a threat and intercepted them, ignoring the other two which were directed at non-populated areas. No injuries or damage were reported. Defense officials said that Iron Dome would be re-deployed in Beersheba.[78]

On 20 August 2011, while engaging with a volley of seven rockets fired almost simultaneously at Be'er Sheva from Gaza, one was not intercepted by the defense system, exploding in a residential area and killing Yossi Shushan. Brig. Gen. Doron Gavish, commander of the IAF's Air Defense Corps, said on the following day that "we said in advance that this wasn't a hermetic system," adding that the air defense units were learning on the fly and improving the performance of Iron Dome while operating it. "This is the first system of its kind anywhere in the world; it is in its first operational test; and we've already intercepted a large number of rockets targeting Israeli communities, saving many civilian lives," Gavish said.[79]

On 21 August 2011, Ynetnews reported that the success of the Iron Dome system against Gazan rocket fire had southern city mayors battling over the right to be the next to have it deployed in their area. The IDF stressed that "no system can offer airtight protection" and that the system positioned in Ashkelon was incapable of extending its defense to Ashdod, but this did not stop the mayors from pressuring the Defense Ministry and the IDF to position Iron Dome batteries within their city limits. Ashdod, Ofakim, Netivot, Beersheba, and Ashkelon have all pursued the system, but the IDF had only two batteries available.[80]

On the same day, The Jerusalem Post reported that Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced that a third Iron Dome battery would be installed in the region "within weeks", and estimated that nine more batteries would be positioned within the next two years[needs update].[81] In attacks shortly before, the Iron Dome system had successfully intercepted about 85% of the rockets identified as threats to populated areas by the Battle Management Control (BMC) system launched at Israel from Gaza.[82]

On 23 August 2011, Globes reported that Rafael would invest tens of millions of shekels in the following months to open a second production line for the Iron Dome's Tamir interceptor missiles. Future operational needs, as well as the plan to build two more Iron Dome batteries by the end of the year, necessitated the increase of missile production.[83]

On 31 August 2011, the IAF deployed a third Iron Dome battery outside Ashdod. Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who had said earlier in the week that it would take 10 days until the battery was deployed near Ashdod, praised the IDF and the IAF Air Defense Division for beating the deadline and beginning the deployment before the opening of the school year.[27]

On 1 December 2011, Brig. Gen. Gavish said that a fourth battery of the system would be deployed in the "coming months". He spoke to The Jerusalem Post ahead of the Air Defense Division's largest-ever draft of soldiers needed to fill the ranks of its increasing number of units and battalions. "The numbers will continue to grow and another battery will become operational in the beginning of the year," he said.[84] On 8 December, "outstanding" officer Capt. Roytal Ozen began to command the battery's unit in preparation for its deployment, the first woman to be in charge of the system.[85]

On 6 December 2011, Matan Vilnai, the Israeli Minister of Home Front Defense, said that the Defense Ministry is considering a permanent deployment of an Iron Dome battery in the Haifa Port to protect the oil refineries there against future Hezbollah rocket attacks. "The continued work of the oil refineries is critical for the Israeli economy during a time of war," he said. During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, a number of Katyusha rockets struck Haifa but did not hit the refineries. A direct hit on one of the refineries may cause numerous casualties as a result of leakage of dangerous chemical substances. The port is also the site of a chemical terminal that includes containers of ammonia and ethylene gas.[86][87]

On 30 December 2011, The Jerusalem Post reported that a performance analysis it had obtained shows that Iron Dome was successful in downing rockets from Gaza 75% of the times it fired. It said two interceptors are usually fired at each rocket. In April 2011, for example, the system succeeded in intercepting eight of 10 rockets. Following the October violence, the IDF conducted an inquiry into the Iron Dome's performance and discovered that a radar failure caused some of the interceptors to miss their targets, a problem since corrected. An officer told the Post that "seventy-five percent is impressive, but we would still like to see it perform better."[[#cite_note-jpost75%Dec11-88|[88]]]

Response by Palestinian militants

Iron Dome launcher deployed near Ashkelon

On 22 August 2011, Haaretz reported that according to Israeli security sources, Palestinian militants changed their rocket-launching tactics in an attempt to evade the two Iron Dome batteries deployed in southern Israel. The new tactics included aiming more frequently at areas beyond the Iron Dome protection range. After the Palestinian launch teams realized that the systems deployed in the previous two weeks around Ashkelon and Be'er Sheva provided near-perfect protection from rockets, they began firing more frequently at Ashdod and Ofakim. When they did aim at Beersheba on 21 August, they did not fire one or two rockets, as in the past, but rather a volley of seven rockets almost simultaneously. Iron Dome intercepted five of them successfully, but one penetrated the defense system, exploding in a residential area and killing a man.[79]

August 2011 Supreme Court decision

On 8 August 2011, the Israeli High Court of Justice rejected a petition asking that the government be ordered to deploy the system in Gaza border communities. In rejecting the petition, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch and Justices Salim Joubran and Uzi Fogelman ruled that in balancing all relevant considerations including budgets, changing security realities and operational matters, the government's decision not to deploy the Iron Dome in the area was reasonable. The panel of justices also said that the court had no reason to intervene in operational decisions regarding where to deploy the Iron Dome system. "We believe the [government] will make the necessary decisions in accordance with the time and place requirements," they said.[89]

In its petition, the Eshkol Regional Council argued that the government should be ordered to deploy the Iron Dome to protect communities between 4.5 and 7 kilometers from Gaza from rocket fire. Government-funded rocket-roof protection is in place for homes in communities within 4.5 km of Gaza, but not for structures further from the border.[89]

The state said that the High Court should not intervene in the "military decision" regarding how and where to deploy the anti-rocket system. It also argued that if the court were to order it to deploy Iron Dome in a specific area, budgetary limitations would result in other communities not receiving protection, particularly as the range of Palestinian rockets had grown in recent years and therefore it was not possible to deploy Iron Dome to protect every community.[89]

December 2011 accident

On 26 December 2011, an accident occurred during a maintenance drill involving one of the systems. While loading missiles into a launcher vehicle from a bunker at the Air Defense Network's school near kibbutzMashabei Sadeh in the Negev,[90] two soldiers caused twenty Tamir interceptors to fall from a height of four meters near soldiers and officers without detonating, causing no injury, but making them unserviceable.[91][92]Ynetnews reported that the soldiers were never in danger because the interceptor missiles are equipped with a security mechanism that prevents premature explosions. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit said that the Air Force commander, Maj. Gen. Ido Nehushtan, appointed a committee to examine the accident and ordered an immediate stop to all Air Defense Network maintenance work until a preliminary investigation was concluded.[92] It also said that during the following week actions would be taken to "improve skills and safety awareness".[90][91] A security official told Reshet Bet that the failure was twofold in that the soldiers and their commander deviated from severely strict safety protocols, and 20 costly interceptors were lost.[91]Walla! website reported that the soldiers made a mistake in loading the missiles and they fell backwards. The website calculated the damage at $1 million USD (at $50,000 per missile). The missiles were transferred back to Rafael to determine whether they could be repaired.[90]

On 1 January 2012, those soldiers were sentenced to punishment by the school's commanding officer following an inquiry into their conduct regarding the incident. The lieutenant in charge of the loading crew was given 21 days in mahbosh, while the sergeant in charge of the technician crew was given 14 days.[93]

2012

March 2012 intensive attacks

After the IDF killing of Zohair al-Qaisi, the secretary general of the Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza on 9 March 2012, more than 300 rockets were fired on Israel. Some 177 fell on Israeli territory. The Iron Dome system had successfully intercepted at least 56 rockets (directed at population centers) in 71 attempts.

July 2012 first Eilat deployment

On 11 July 2012, Ynetnews reported that on that day the Iron Dome system was deployed in the greater Eilat area as a part of an IDF survey meant to test it in various areas across Israel.[94] The IDF published on its website that the Iron Dome battery will be temporarily stationed there as part of an effort to test and prepare different sites across the country for the possibility of permanently stationing there additional batteries. "Since the system continues to grow and improve, it is important to test potential sites," said a commander from the Air Defense Formation. "After stationing Iron Dome batteries in numerous regions in southern Israel, including Ashkelon, Ashdod, Netivot and Gush Dan—it is time to test the southernmost region in the country, Eilat."[95]Haaretz reported that an official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the interceptors were set up on 9 July.[96] Three weeks beforehand, two Katyhusha rockets were fired into southern Israel, and according to The Jerusalem Post the IDF believes that they originated from the Sinai. According to the report, IDF assessments are that they were either fired by a Palestinian rocket cell from Gaza—affiliated either with Hamas or Islamic Jihad—or by Bedouin freelancers who work for them. The launches followed an earlier one in April 2012, when at least one Katyusha rocket was fired from the Sinai to Eilat.[97]Ynetnews reported that according to a military source, following these rocket attacks, the IDF decided not to take any chances and calibrated the system to the region's topography, before finally deploying it. The system's deployment was coordinated with local communities and the City of Eilat, in order to prevent public panic.[94]

November 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense

According to the Israeli Air Force, during operation "Pillar of Defense" (14–21 November 2012) Iron Dome made 421 interceptions.[98] On 17 November, after two rockets targeted Tel Aviv during the operation, a battery was deployed in the area. Within hours, a third rocket was intercepted by the system. This fifth battery had not been scheduled to come into service until early 2013.[99]

Iron Dome intercepting during "Operation Pillar of Defense

CNN relayed an estimate that Iron Dome's success rate in Pillar of Defense was about 85%.[100]

2014

July 2014 Operation Protective Edge

The system was employed during operation "Protective Edge", intercepting rockets launched from Gaza towards southern, central and northern parts of Israel.[101] As of August 2014, ten Iron Dome batteries had been deployed throughout Israel.[102] During the 50 days of the conflict 4,594 rockets and mortars were fired at Israeli targets; Iron Dome systems intercepted 735 projectiles that it determined were threatening, achieving an intercept success rate of 90 percent. Only 70 rockets fired at Israel from Gaza failed to be intercepted. One civilian was killed and three others and nine servicemen were wounded by mortar bombs, but they were not in areas protected by Iron Dome. Only 25 percent of rockets fired were determined to be threatening due to the low accuracy and unstable trajectory of the poor-quality rockets fired. Six systems had been deployed prior to hostilities, and three more were rushed into service for a total of nine batteries used during the conflict; a tenth system was delivered, but not deployed due to a shortage of staff.[103]

2018

On 10 May 2018, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran allegedly launched 20 rockets from Syria toward Israel in retaliation for recent Israeli airstrikes against IRGC facilities. According to an IDF spokesperson, 16 of the rockets fell short of the Israeli border, and Iron Dome intercepted the other four. Israel reported no casualties or damage.[104]

Future deployment at sea

Israel is planning to deploy Iron Dome batteries at sea, where they will protect off-shore gas platforms, working in conjunction with Israel's Barak 8 missile system.[17] The Israel Navy's future Sa’ar 6 missile ships will deploy two Iron Dome batteries on each ship.[17]

On 23 November 2012, The Economic Times reported that Indian Defense planners were considering the possibility of India acquiring an indigenous version of Iron Dome, keeping a close watch on the performance of Iron Dome during the 2012 Operation Pillar of Defense. Several months earlier, the military scientists in the Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had suggested that India look at a joint development program with Israeli firms to develop an Indian version of Iron Dome. They believed Israel's short range missile defense requirements have several parallels to the Indian threat from Pakistan, which includes a "battlefield range" quasi tactical ballistic nuclear weapon delivery system, called Nasr, which some Indian defense sources say the Iron Dome might be an effective deterrent against, as well as the vulnerability of its cities to attacks from militants. However they have not used any missiles against India.[106]

"The Israeli team comes and works in our laboratories. Our team goes and works in their laboratories and industries. There is a learning that is taking place which was not there when we buy things and integrate with existing products... we have started discussions about Iron Dome for co-development (in India)," Dr W. Selvamurthy, Chief Controller looking after international cooperation said.[106]

On 8 February 2013, Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne, commander of the Indian Air Force, told reporters that Iron Dome is not suitable for the service. The announcement came after two years of discussions.[107] In August 2013, India resumed attempting to acquire the Iron Dome system after Israel agreed to transfer system technology. Iron Dome could complement the domestic long-range Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Programme air defense system.[108]

Possible foreign sales

On 10 March 2010, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Israeli Ministry of Defense was in talks with a number of European countries about the possible sale of the system in order to protect NATO forces deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq.[111]

During a visit to Israel in the summer of 2011, Kwon Oh-bong, vice commissioner of the Defense Acquisition Program Administration in Seoul, expressed interest in purchasing the system in order to counter the threat posed by North Koreanartillery, rockets, and missiles.[112] South Korea was considered unlikely to buy the Iron Dome system due to the number of artillery pieces it would face, the coverage it would need to provide (around Seoul), and the high cost of interceptors; effort is being focused on disrupting the "Kill Chain" to immediately detect and destroy artillery and missile units.[113] In August 2014, South Korea once again emerged as interested in buying the Iron Dome system for protection against rocket attacks.[114] In October 2017, South Korea announced it would develop its own Iron Dome-type C-RAM system using hit-to-kill interceptors.[115]

On 16 August 2011, Raytheon Company announced that it had teamed with Rafael in order to lead marketing in the United States for the Iron Dome system. "Iron Dome complements other Raytheon weapons that provide intercept capabilities to the US Army's Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar initiative at forward operating bases," said Mike Booen, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Advanced Security and Directed Energy Systems product line. "Iron Dome can be seamlessly integrated with Raytheon's C-RAM systems to complete the layered defense."[116]

On 10 November 2011, The Jerusalem Post reported that the US Army had expressed interest in acquiring the system, to be deployed outside forward bases in Iraq and Afghanistan that could potentially be targeted by artillery rockets. The US military had discovered 107 mm rockets in Iraq in the past.[117] On 1 December 2011, The Jerusalem Post reported that the US Army would decide in January 2012[needs update] whether it would purchase the system. Yossi Druker, head of Rafael's Air-to-Air Directorate, said that the initial deal is valued at $100 million, but could reach several hundred million dollars over a number of years.[118] In April 2016, Iron Dome's Tamir interceptor successfully shot down a UAV during a test firing in the United States, the system's first trial on foreign soil.[119]

Effectiveness

Following the system's deployment in April 2011, Iron Dome was used to successfully intercept Katyusha rockets fired by Palestinian militants.[120] In August that year, Iron Dome intercepted 20 missiles and rockets fired into Israel. However, in one instance the system destroyed four out of five rockets fired at the city of Beersheba but failed to stop the fifth which killed one man and injured several others.[121]

In November 2012, during Operation Pillar of Defense, the Iron Dome's effectiveness was estimated by Israeli officials at between 75 and 95 percent.[122] According to Israeli officials, of the approximately 1,000 missiles and rockets fired into Israel by Hamas from the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense up to 17 November 2012, Iron Dome identified two thirds as not posing a threat and intercepted 90 percent of the remaining 300.[123] During this period the only Israeli casualties were three individuals killed in missile attacks after a malfunction of the Iron Dome system.[124]

In comparison with other air defense systems, the effectiveness rate of Iron Dome is very high.[122] Defense consultant Steven Zaloga stated that Iron Dome's destruction of 90 percent of missiles it targeted is "an extremely high level", above that usually expected for air defense systems.[125]Slate reported that the effectiveness rate is "unprecedented" in comparison with earlier systems such as the Patriot missile defence system.[126]

Defense reporter Mark Thompson wrote that, the "lack of Israeli casualties suggests Iron Dome is the most-effective, most-tested missile shield the world has ever seen."[127]

In the 2006 war with Hezbollah, prior to Iron Dome's development, during 34 days of fighting, 4,000 rockets landed and 53 Israelis were killed. However, in the 2014 war with Gaza, the 50-day conflict and 3,360 rockets resulted in just two rocket-related deaths.[131] In 2006, about 30,000 insurance claims for rocket-related damage were filed while in 2014, there were just 2,400.[132]

Criticism

Effectiveness

Prior to deployment

Prior to its deployment, the Iron Dome was criticized as ineffective in countering the Qassam threat for the southern city of Sderot, given the short distance and flight time between the much-attacked city and the rocket launching pads in the Gaza Strip.[133][134] Israeli defense officials insisted that with recent improvements to Iron Dome, the system was fully able to intercept Qassams.[134][135]

Analysis based on YouTube video footage

An unpublished 2013 report[136] by Theodore Postol, Mordechai Shefer and Richard Lloyd,[137] argued that the official effectiveness figures for Iron Dome during Operation Pillar of Defense were incorrect.[138] Although Postol had earlier lauded Iron Dome's effectiveness,[139] after studying YouTube videos of the warhead interceptions as well as police reports and other data, he argued that "Iron Dome’s intercept rate, defined as destruction of the rocket's warhead was relatively low, perhaps as low as 5%, but could well be lower."[138][140] Postol reached this conclusion mainly from an analysis of non-official footage of interceptions taken by civilians and published on YouTube.

The Israeli Institute of National Security Studies published a detailed rebuttal to Postol's claims, labeling it "dubious research without access to credible data". The rebuttal stated:

The report's claims appear puzzling, to say the least, particularly the contention that Iron Dome did not succeed in causing the rocket’s warhead to explode... These clips were not filmed during sophisticated trials; they were taken by civilians who photographed them using their smartphones and uploaded them to YouTube. In general, it is not possible to know where they were filmed or the direction in which the person filming was looking. It is very difficult to conduct precise analyses, and it is generally difficult to learn from the film about the geometry of the missile’s flight. The researchers also looked for double explosions and failed to find them. This is not surprising, since such explosions are very close to each other both in distance and in time – less than a thousandth of a second. There is no way that a smartphone camera could distinguish between a double and a single explosion.[141]

Uzi Rubin writes: "So how did Postol reach such a radical conclusion? He made a series of assumptions on Iron Dome performance, most of them very wrong, and examined public domain video clips shot from smartphones and media cameras that showed the wind-sheared smoke trails of Iron Dome interceptors, but in which the engaged rockets remained invisible. From this half-blind sky picture, he guessed interception geometries that, when matched with his own gross underestimation of Iron Dome performance, yielded an intuitive estimate of a 5 percent to 10 percent success rate... Postol’s estimates are simply wrong."[142]

Analysis of damage reports

Postol additionally used the amount of claims filed by the Property Tax Authority and the number of Israeli Police Reports (taken from the Israeli Police website) relating to rockets to support his argument. In relation to Postol's argument based on the number of reports the Israeli Police received, Israeli Institute of National Security Studies wrote: "However, Israel Police reports on calls from citizens, and these include reports on falling fragments, rocket parts, and duds."[143]

Analysis of losses per rocket

Research published in 2018 analyzed the numbers of deaths, injuries, and property damage claims per rocket fired for four conflicts.[144] These were the Second Lebanon War of 2006, Operation Cast Lead in 2008–2009, Operation Pillar of Defense in 2012, and Operation Protective Edge in 2014. By comparing the loss rates per rocket of the latter two operations (which had Iron Dome batteries) to the first two (which did not), it estimated the interceptor batteries’ overall effectiveness at reducing Israeli losses from rockets.[145]

Those estimates suggest Iron Dome intercepted 59 to 75 percent of all threatening rockets during Protective Edge. "Threatening" means the rockets struck populated areas or were intercepted beforehand. The interceptions likely prevented $42 to $86 million in property damage, three to six deaths, and 120 to 250 injuries. Since those percentages include rockets anywhere in Israel, the high interception rates claimed for only the areas that batteries were defending seem plausible.

By contrast, Iron Dome apparently intercepted less than 32 percent of threatening rockets during Pillar of Defense, perhaps much less. The prevented at most two deaths, 110 injuries and US$7 million in damage. The research also implies the number of rocket hits on populated areas was understated. Conversely, the number of threatening rockets seems overstated. The effective interception rate for Pillar of Defense therefore may have been markedly less than reported.

The study further estimated that improvements in Israeli civil defenses, such as warning sirens and hardened shelters, were at least as good as Iron Dome at reducing civilian deaths and injuries from rockets.

These results partly support critics (like Theodore Postol) of Iron Dome’s effectiveness during Pillar of Defense. However, they also partly support proponents (like Uzi Rubin) of the system's effectiveness during Protective Edge.

Reports of ammunition shortage

According to Ronen Bergman, in 2012, during Operation Pillar of Defense, Israel agreed to an early cease-fire, "for a reason that has remained a closely guarded secret: The Iron Dome anti-missile defense system... had run out of ammunition." Bergman says that as a result of the experience, Israel had tried to prepare larger stocks of interceptors for future rounds of fighting.[146]

Cost

In 2010, before the system was declared operational, Iron Dome was criticized by Reuven Pedatzur, a military analyst, former fighter pilot and professor of political science at Tel Aviv University[147] for costing too much compared to the cost of a Qassam rocket (fired by Palestinian forces), so that launching very large numbers of Qassams could essentially attack Israel's financial means.[133] The estimated cost of each Tamir interceptor missile has been cited from US$20,000[148]–50,000[24] whereas a crudely manufactured Qassam rocket costs around $800 and the cost of each Hamas Grad rocket is only several thousand dollars each.[149][150] Rafael responded that the cost issue was exaggerated since Iron Dome intercepts only rockets determined to constitute a threat, and that the lives saved and the strategic impact are worth the cost.[151]

Other anti-rocket systems, such as the Nautilus laser defense system, were argued to be more effective. From 1995 to 2005, the United States and Israel jointly developed Nautilus but scrapped the system after concluding it was not feasible, having spent $600 million. The US Navy continued R&D on the system. American defense company Northrop Grumman proposed developing a more advanced prototype of Nautilus, Skyguard.[134]
Skyguard would use laser beams to intercept rockets, with each beam discharge costing an estimated $1,000–$2,000. With an investment of $180 million, Northrop Grumman claimed it could possibly deploy the system within 18 months. Israeli defense officials rejected the proposal, citing the extended timeline and additional costs.

In an op-ed in Haaretz, Jamie Levin suggests that the success of the Iron Dome system will likely increase demands to field additional systems across Israel. Budget shortfalls mean that Israel will be forced to weigh spending on missile defenses against other expenditures. Such funds, he argues, will likely come from programs intended to help the most vulnerable sectors of society, such as social welfare.[152]

Effects on Israeli society

Yoav Fromer, writing in The Washington Post, thanked Iron Dome for the lack of fatalities and the relatively low casualty rate among Israeli civilians, and said that the technology appears to provide "both a physical and a psychological solace that enables Israelis to go about their business." However, in his view, over time, Iron Dome may do the Israeli public more harm than good because despite the fact it is a "tactical miracle" it may help create a serious strategic problem to Israelis' long-term security because, by temporarily minimizing the dangers posed by rocket attacks, it distracts Israelis from seeking a broader regional political solution that could finally make systems such as Iron Dome unnecessary. In Fromer's view, the Israeli government is "not exactly brimming with creative ideas to reignite the peace process with the Palestinians. And with Iron Dome, why would it? As long as the Israeli public believes it is safe, for now, under the soothing embrace of technology, it will not demand that its political leaders wage diplomacy to end violence that mandated Iron Dome in the first place. Since Iron Dome has transformed a grim reality into a rather bearable ordeal, Israelis have lost the sense of urgency and outrage that might have pushed their government" to make necessary concessions in exchange for peace. In Fromer's view, Israelis risk confusing the short-term military advantage provided by Iron Dome with the long term need for an original and comprehensive diplomatic solution.[153]

Amir Peretz, an Israeli cabinet minister, told The Washington Post that Iron Dome is no more than a stopgap measure, and that "In the end, the only thing that will bring true quiet is a diplomatic solution."[154]

^מסירות, ציונות וכמה חלקים מ-טויז אר אס, Hayadan (in Hebrew), IL: Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, July 9, 2014, retrieved July 9, 2014, As scientists we dream to sit in our offices without limitations of time and budget and to develop perfect products. But the reality is different, and these constraints forced us to think hard. There are parts in the system forty times cheaper than the parts we buy normally. I can give you even a scoop – it contains the world's only missile components from Toys R Us... One day I brought to work my sons toy car. We Passed it among us, and we saw that there were actually components suitable for us. More than that I can not tell..

1.
Operation Pillar of Defense
–
The operation was preceded by a period with a number of mutual Israeli–Palestinian responsive attacks. The Palestinians blamed the Israeli government for the upsurge in violence and they cited the blockade of the Gaza Strip and the occupation of West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as the reason for rocket attacks. During the course of the operation, the IDF claimed to have more than 1,500 sites in the Gaza Strip, including rocket launchpads, weapon depots, government facilities. According to a UNHCR report,174 Palestinians were killed and hundreds were wounded, one airstrike killed ten members of the al-Dalu family. Some Palestinian casualties were caused by misfired Palestinian rockets landing inside the Gaza Strip, eight Palestinians were executed by members of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades for alleged collaboration with Israel. Palestinian militant groups used weapons including Iranian-made Fajr-5, Russian-made Grad rockets, Qassams, some of these weapons were fired into Rishon LeZion, Beersheba, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and other population centers. Tel Aviv was hit for the first time since the 1991 Gulf War, the rockets killed three Israeli civilians in a direct hit on a home in Kiryat Malachi. By the end of the operation, six Israelis had been killed, about 421 rockets were intercepted by Israels Iron Dome missile defense system, another 142 fell on Gaza itself,875 fell in open areas, and 58 hit urban areas in Israel. A bus in Tel Aviv was bombed by an Arab-Israeli, injuring 28 civilians, china, Iran, Russia, Egypt, Turkey, and several other Arab and Muslim countries condemned the Israeli operation. The United Nations Security Council held a session on the situation. After days of negotiations between Hamas and Israel, a ceasefire mediated by Egypt was announced on 21 November, Israel said that it had achieved its aim of crippling Hamass rocket-launching ability, while Hamas stated that Israels option of invading Gaza had ended. According to Human Rights Watch, both sides violated the laws of war during the fighting, although the official English name of the operation is Pillar of Defense, the Hebrew name translates as Pillar of Cloud. The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament elaborate on the story, specifying that the Pillar of Cloud shielded the Israelites from the Egyptians arrows, the analogy is thus to the Israel Defense Forces, which shielded Israeli citizens from rocket attacks. Hamas labelled its actions as Operation Stones of Shale, the Gaza Strip is defined by the 1949 Armistice lines following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. About 1.1 of 1.5 million residents of Gaza are registered as refugees from the war, Egypt occupied Gaza from 1948 to 1967 and with the 1967 Arab-Israeli War Israel became the occupying power. In 2005, then Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon unilaterally withdrew Israeli forces, nonetheless, the ICRC, the UN and various human rights organizations consider Israel to still be the de facto occupying power due to its control of Gazas borders, air space and territorial waters. The following year, Hamas won a majority of seats in the Palestinian legislative elections, in mid-2006 an Israeli soldier was captured by Hamas in a cross-border raid. The United States, in response to Fatah moves in October 2006 to form a unity government with Hamas, Hamas preempted the coup and took complete power by force

2.
Anti-aircraft warfare
–
Anti-aircraft warfare or counter-air defence is defined by NATO as all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action. They include ground-and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and it may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. However, for most countries the main effort has tended to be homeland defence, NATO refers to airborne air defence as counter-air and naval air defence as anti-aircraft warfare. Missile defence is an extension of air defence as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight, a surface-based air defence capability can also be deployed offensively to deny the use of airspace to an opponent. Until the 1950s, guns firing ballistic munitions ranging from 20 mm to 150 mm were the weapons, guided missiles then became dominant. The term air defence was probably first used by Britain when Air Defence of Great Britain was created as a Royal Air Force command in 1925. However, arrangements in the UK were also called anti-aircraft, abbreviated as AA, after the First World War it was sometimes prefixed by Light or Heavy to classify a type of gun or unit. Nicknames for anti-aircraft guns include AA, AAA or triple-A, an abbreviation of anti-aircraft artillery, ack-ack, NATO defines anti-aircraft warfare as measures taken to defend a maritime force against attacks by airborne weapons launched from aircraft, ships, submarines and land-based sites. In some armies the term All-Arms Air Defence is used for air defence by nonspecialist troops, other terms from the late 20th century include GBAD with related terms SHORAD and MANPADS. Anti-aircraft missiles are variously called surface-to-air missile, abbreviated and pronounced SAM, non-English terms for air defence include the German FlaK, whence English flak, and the Russian term Protivovozdushnaya oborona, a literal translation of anti-air defence, abbreviated as PVO. In Russian the AA systems are called zenitnye systems, in French, air defence is called DCA. The maximum distance at which a gun or missile can engage an aircraft is an important figure, however, many different definitions are used but unless the same definition is used, performance of different guns or missiles cannot be compared. For AA guns only the part of the trajectory can be usefully used. By the late 1930s the British definition was that height at which an approaching target at 400 mph can be engaged for 20 seconds before the gun reaches 70 degrees elevation. However, effective ceiling for heavy AA guns was affected by nonballistic factors, The maximum running time of the fuse, the capability of fire control instruments to determine target height at long range. The essence of air defence is to detect aircraft and destroy them. The critical issue is to hit a target moving in three-dimensional space, Air defence evolution covered the areas of sensors and technical fire control, weapons, and command and control. At the start of the 20th century these were very primitive or non-existent

3.
Sinai insurgency
–
Since 2011, the central authorities have attempted to restore their presence in the Sinai through both political and military measures. Egypt launched two military operations, known as Operation Eagle in mid-2011 and then Operation Sinai in mid-2012, in May 2013, following an abduction of Egyptian officers, violence in the Sinai surged once again. Following the 2013 Egyptian coup détat, which resulted in the ousting of Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, in 2014, elements of the Ansar Bait al-Maqdis group claimed allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant and proclaimed themselves as the Sinai Province. Security officials say militants based in Libya have established ties with Sinai Province, since the start of the conflict, dozens of civilians were killed either in military operations or kidnapped and then beheaded by militants. Administratively, the Sinai Peninsula is divided into two governorates, the South Sinai Governorate and the North Sinai Governorate, sufism was previously dominant in the region before militant jihadi ideas began to take hold. The Sinai peninsula has long known for its lawlessness, having historically served as a smuggling route for weapons. Security provisions in the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty of 1979 have institutionalized a diminished security presence in the area, moreover, the limited government-directed investment and development in Sinai has discriminated against the local Bedouin population, a population that values tribal allegiance over all else. The combination of Sinais harsh terrain and lack of resources have kept the area poor, following the January 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubaraks regime, the country became increasingly destabilized, creating a security vacuum in the Sinai peninsula. Radical Islamic elements in Sinai exploited the opportunity, using the environment, in launching several waves of attacks upon Egyptian military. Since the 2011 uprising against the Mubarak regime in Egypt, there has been increasing instability in the Sinai Peninsula, in addition the collapse of the Libyan regime increased the quantity and sophistication of weapons being smuggled into the area. The situation provided local Bedouin with an opportunity to assert their authority, leading to clashes with Egyptian security forces, hard-line militant Muslims used Sinai as a launch-point for attacks against Israel and turned on the Egyptian state. Focusing on Egypts security establishment and the Sinais Arab Gas Pipeline, in August 2011, Operation Eagle was launched, in an effort to restore law and order, driving Islamist insurgents and criminal gangs out of North Sinais urban centers. As well as, attempting to severe the link between militant groups in the Sinai and Gaza, by augmenting its control over the Gaza border crossing. The operation had limited success, and a week into the operation, on 5 August 2012, an attack on the Rafah barracks shook the Egyptian military and population. Only a month into his term, President Mohamed Morsi sacked the defence minister. Operation Sinai was launched, aimed at eliminating armed Islamist groups, protecting the Suez Canal, during the operation,32 militants and suspects were killed and 38 arrested, while 2 civilians had been killed by early September 2012. In an increase in security forces came under near daily attack throughout July to August 2013. In 2013, the new authorities adopted an aggressive strategy, leading to mass arrests

4.
Israel Aerospace Industries
–
Israel Aerospace Industries or IAI is Israels prime aerospace and aviation manufacturer, producing aerial and astronautic systems for both military and civilian usage. It has 16,000 employees as of 2013, IAI is wholly owned by the government of Israel. In addition to construction of fighter aircraft, IAI also designs and builds civil aircraft, drones and designs and builds missile, avionics. Although IAIs main focus is aviation and high-tech electronics, it also manufactures systems for ground. Many of these products are specially suited for the Israel Defense Forces needs, the company originally had 70 employees and recruited American born aviation expert Al Schwimmer as the companys founder and first president. In 1959 Bedek began manufacturing its first aircraft, a V-tailed twinjet trainer of French design, the Tzukit became the Israeli Air Force principal trainer for 50 years. They were then deployed against Jordanian forces, including armour, on the West Bank, the Magister proved effective at the close-support mission albeit with heavy casualties, with six being lost. The first aircraft to be designed and built by IAI. In response to the French embargo, IAI began developing its own fighter aircraft, the Nesher entered service in 1971, in time for the Yom Kippur War. The Nesher was followed by the IAI Kfir, which was developed as a result of Israels need for adapting the Dassault Mirage III to the requirements of the Israeli Air Force. The Kfir entered service with the IAF in 1975, the first units being assigned to the 101st First Fighter Squadron, over the following years, several other squadrons were also equipped with the new aircraft. The Kfirs first recorded combat action took place on 9 November 1977, during an Israeli air strike on a camp at Tel Azia. The only air victory claimed by a Kfir during its service with the IAF occurred on 27 June 1979 when a Kfir C.2 shot down a Syrian MiG-21. The IAI Kfir has been exported to Colombia, Ecuador, Sri Lanka and was leased to the US Navy, in 1969 IAI acquired North American Rockwells Jet Commander series of business aircraft. This became the basis for the IAI Westwind line, work on an improved Westwind the Astra, by stretching the fuselage and designing a new swept wing, began in the late 1970s, with the first prototype flight on 19 March 1984. The first production Astra flew on 20 March 1985, FAA certification came on 29 August 1985, in the 1960s, IAI developed the Gabriel anti-ship missile and the Elta Electronics Industries subsidiary developed an inexpensive aircraft radar which would become a successful export item. In the 1970s IAI developed the Dabur class patrol boat In the 1970s IAI also entered the Unmanned aerial vehicle market with the development of the IAI Scout. In 1984, IAI formed a joint venture with rival Israeli company Tadiran to market both companies UAVs, the Tadiran Mastiff and the IAI Scout

5.
Proximity fuze
–
A proximity fuze is a fuze that detonates an explosive device automatically when the distance to the target becomes smaller than a predetermined value. Proximity fuzes are designed for such as planes, missiles, ships at sea. They provide a sophisticated trigger mechanism than the common contact fuze or timed fuze, it is estimated that it increases the lethality by 5 to 10 times. British military researchers Sir Samuel Curran and W. A. S. Butement invented a proximity fuze in the stages of World War II under the name VT. The system was a small, short range, Doppler radar, however, Britain lacked the capacity to develop the fuze, so the design was shown to the United States during the Tizard Mission in late 1940. The fuze needed to be miniaturized, survive the acceleration of cannon launch. Development was completed under the direction of physicist Merle A. Tuve at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, over 2000 American companies were mobilized to build some 20 million shell fuzes. The proximity fuze was one of the most important technological innovations of the war and it was so important that it was a secret guarded to a similar level as the atom bomb project or D-Day invasion. Adm. Lewis L. Strauss wrote that, One of the most original and effective military developments in World War II was the proximity, or VT and it was of incalculable value to both the Army and Navy, and it helped save London from obliteration. While no one won the war, the proximity fuze must be listed among the very small group of developments, such as radar. The fuze was later found to be able to detonate artillery shells in air bursts, the Germans were supposedly also working on proximity fuzes in the 1930s, based on capacitive effects rather than radar. Research and prototype work at Rheinmetall were halted in 1940 to devote resources to projects deemed more necessary. In the post-World War II era, a number of new proximity fuze systems were developed, including radio, optical, a common form used in modern air-to-air weapons uses a laser as an optical source and time-of-flight for ranging. Before the proximity fuzes invention, detonation was induced by direct contact, all of these earlier methods have disadvantages. The probability of a hit on a small moving target is low. A time- or height-triggered fuze requires an accurate prediction, if the setting is wrong, with a proximity fuze, the shell or missile need only pass close by the target at some time during its trajectory. The proximity fuze makes the problem simpler than the previous methods, Proximity fuzes are also useful for producing air bursts against ground targets. A contact fuze would explode when it hit the ground, it would not be effective at scattering shrapnel

6.
Sderot
–
Sderot is a western Negev city and former development town in the Southern District of Israel. In 2015 it had a population of 23,090, studies have found that air raid sirens and explosions have caused severe psychological trauma in some residents. At least 75 percent of children aged 4–18 in Sderot suffer from stress, including sleeping disorders. From mid-June 2007 to mid-February 2008,771 rockets and 857 mortar bombs were fired at Sderot and the western Negev, an average of three or four each a day. Notable for its many bomb shelters some of which are built in the form of Childrens Play areas in school playgrounds, Sderot is infamously referred to as The Bomb Shelter Capital of the World. Sderot was founded in 1951 on lands belonged to the Palestinian Arab village of Najd who were expelled to Gaza. On 13 May 1948, Najd was occupied by the Negev Brigade as part of Operation Barak, and the villagers were driven out to Gaza. It began as a camp called Gabim Dorot for Kurdish and Persian Jewish immigrants, numbering 80 families. Permanent housing was completed, three years later, in 1954, from the mid-1950s Moroccan Jews increasingly settled in the township. In 1956, Sderot was recognized as a local council, like many other localities in the Negev, Sderots name has a green motif that symbolizes the motto making the desert bloom, a central part of Zionist ideology. In the 1961 census, the percentage of North African immigrants, mostly from Morocco, was 87% in the town, in the 1950s, the city continued to absorb a large number of immigrants from Morocco and Romania. It reached local council status in 1958, Sderot absorbed another large wave of immigrants during the Aliyah from the Soviet Union in the 1990s, doubling its population. In 1996, it was declared a city, the population declined as families left the city in desperation. The mayor said in 2008 that the population had dropped by 10–15%, many of the families that remained were those who could not afford to move out or are unable to sell their homes. This situation that the children from this place and the place is because of the behaviour of the leaders of the terror organisations. We can create another quality of life, it is so close, in October 2013, Alon Davidi was elected as Mayor of Sderot. According to CBS, in 2010 the city had a population of 21,900, the national makeup of the city was 94% Jewish,5. 5% other non-Arabs, and Arabs less than 1%. There were 10,600 males and 10,500 females, the population growth rate in 2010 was 0. 5%

7.
Active electronically scanned array
–
AESAs main use is in radar, and these are known as active phased array radar. The AESA is an advanced, sophisticated, second-generation of the original PESA phased array technology. PESAs can only emit a beam of radio waves at a single frequency at a time. The AESA can radiate multiple beams of radio waves at multiple frequencies simultaneously, most of the radar systems used in modern combat aircraft are AESA systems. Bell Labs proposed replacing the Nike Zeus radars with a phased array system in 1960, the result was the Zeus Multi-function Array Radar, an early example of an active electronically steered array radar system. MAR was made of a number of small antennas, each one connected to a separate computer-controlled transmitter or receiver. MAR allowed the battle over a wide space to be controlled from a single site. Each MAR, and its associated battle center, would process tracks for hundreds of targets, the system would then select the most appropriate battery for each one, and hand off particular targets for them to attack. One battery would normally be associated with the MAR, while others would be distributed around it, remote batteries were equipped with a much simpler radar whose primary purpose was to track the outgoing Sprint missiles before they became visible to the potentially distant MAR. These smaller Missile Site Radars were passively scanned, forming only a single instead of the MARs multiple beams. First Soviet APA radar was developed in 1963-1965 as a part of S-225 ABM system, after some modifications in the system concept in 1967 it was built at Sary Shagan Test Range in 1970-1971 and nicknamed Flat Twin in the West. Four years later another radar of this design was built on Kura Test Range, the first military ground-based AESA was the J/FPS-3 which became fully operational with the 45th Aircraft Control and Warning Group of the Japan Self-Defense Forces in 1995. The first series production ship-based AESA was the OPS-24 Fire-control radar introduced on the Asagiri-class destroyer DD-155 Hamagiri launched in 1988, the first airborne series production AESA was the EL/M-2075 Phalcon on a Chilean Air Force Boeing 707 that entered service in 1994. The first AESA on an aircraft was the J/APG-1 introduced on the Mitsubishi F-2 in 1995. The first AESA on a missile is the head for the AAM-4B air-to-air missile. US based manufacturers of the AESA radars used in the F-22 and Super Hornet include Northrop Grumman and these companies also design, develop and manufacture the transmit/receive modules which comprise the building blocks of an AESA radar. The requisite electronics technology was developed in-house via Department of Defense research programs such as MMIC Program, Radar systems generally work by connecting an antenna to a powerful radio transmitter to emit a short pulse of signal. The transmitter is disconnected and the antenna is connected to a sensitive receiver which amplifies any echos from target objects

8.
Rocket
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A rocket is a missile, spacecraft, aircraft or other vehicle that obtains thrust from a rocket engine. Rocket engine exhaust is formed entirely from propellant carried within the rocket before use, Rocket engines work by action and reaction and push rockets forward simply by expelling their exhaust in the opposite direction at high speed, and can therefore work in the vacuum of space. In fact, rockets work more efficiently in space than in an atmosphere, multistage rockets are capable of attaining escape velocity from Earth and therefore can achieve unlimited maximum altitude. Compared with airbreathing engines, rockets are lightweight and powerful and capable of generating large accelerations. To control their flight, rockets rely on momentum, airfoils, auxiliary engines, gimballed thrust, momentum wheels, deflection of the exhaust stream, propellant flow, spin. Rockets for military and recreational uses date back to at least 13th century China, significant scientific, interplanetary and industrial use did not occur until the 20th century, when rocketry was the enabling technology for the Space Age, including setting foot on the Earths moon. Rockets are now used for fireworks, weaponry, ejection seats, launch vehicles for satellites, human spaceflight. Chemical rockets are the most common type of high power rocket, chemical rockets store a large amount of energy in an easily released form, and can be very dangerous. However, careful design, testing, construction and use minimizes risks, the first gunpowder-powered rockets were developed in Song China, by the 13th century. The Chinese rocket technology was adopted by the Mongols and the invention was spread via the Mongol invasions to the Near East, medieval and early modern rockets were used militarily as incendiary weapons in sieges. An early Chinese text to mention the use of rockets was the Huolongjing, between 1270 and 1280, Hasan al-Rammah wrote al-furusiyyah wa al-manasib al-harbiyya, which included 107 gunpowder recipes,22 of which are for rockets. In Europe, Konrad Kyeser described rockets in his military treatise Bellifortis around 1405. The name Rocket comes from the Italian rocchetta, meaning bobbin or little spindle, the Italian term was adopted into German in the mid 16th century by Leonhard Fronsperger and Conrad Haas, and by the early 17th century into English. Artis Magnae Artilleriae pars prima, an important early work on rocket artillery. The first iron-cased rockets were developed in the late 18th century in the Kingdom of Mysore, in 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the line rockets red glare while held captive on a British ship that was laying siege to Fort McHenry. The first mathematical treatment of the dynamics of rocket propulsion is due to William Moore, in 1815, Alexander Dmitrievich Zasyadko constructed rocket-launching platforms, which allowed rockets to be fired in salvos, and gun-laying devices. William Hale in 1844 greatly increased the accuracy of rocket artillery, the Congreve rocket was further improved by Edward Mounier Boxer in 1865. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky first speculated on the possibility of manned spaceflight with rocket technology, robert Goddard in 1920 published proposed improvements to rocket technology in A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes

9.
Shell (projectile)
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A shell is a payload-carrying projectile that, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot. Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used, originally, it was called a bombshell, but shell has come to be unambiguous in a military context. Words cognate with grenade are still used for an artillery or mortar projectile in some European languages, shells are usually large-calibre projectiles fired by artillery, combat vehicles, and warships. Shells usually have the shape of a cylinder topped by a nose for good aerodynamic performance, possibly with a tapering base. Solid cannonballs did not need a fuse, but hollow munitions filled with something such as gunpowder to fragment the ball, needed a fuse, percussion fuses with a spherical projectile presented a challenge because there was no way of ensuring that the impact mechanism hit the target. Therefore, shells needed a fuse that was ignited before or during firing. The earliest record of shells being used in combat was by the Republic of Venice at Jadra in 1376, shells with fuses were used at the 1421 siege of St Boniface in Corsica. These were two hollowed hemispheres of stone or bronze held together by an iron hoop, as described in their book, these hollow, gunpowder-packed shells were made of cast iron. At least since the 16th Century grenades made of ceramics or glass were in use in Central Europe, a hoard of several hundred ceramic greandes were discovered during building works in front of a bastion of the Bavarian City of Ingolstadt, Germany dated to the 17th Century. Lots of the grenades obtained their orignal blackpowder loads and igniters, most probably the grenades were intentionally dumped the moat of the bastion before the year 1723. Early powder burning fuses had to be loaded fuse down to be ignited by firing or a portfire put down the barrel to light the fuse, other shells were wrapped in bitumen cloth, which would ignite during the firing and in turn ignite a powder fuse. Nevertheless, shells came into use in the 16th Century. By the 18th Century, it was known that the fuse towards the muzzle could be lit by the flash through the windage between the shell and the barrel, the use of exploding shells from field artillery became relatively commonplace from early in the 19th century. Until the mid 19th century, shells remained as simple exploding spheres that used gunpowder and they were usually made of cast iron, but bronze, lead, brass and even glass shell casings were experimented with. The word bomb encompassed them at the time, as heard in the lyrics of The Star-Spangled Banner, typically, the thickness of the metal body was about a sixth of their diameter and they were about two thirds the weight of solid shot of the same calibre. To ensure that shells were loaded with their fuses towards the muzzle, in 1819, a committee of British artillery officers recognised that they were essential stores and in 1830 Britain standardised sabot thickness as a half inch. The sabot was also intended to reduce jamming during loading, despite the use of exploding shell, the use of smoothbore cannons, firing spherical projectiles of shot, remained the dominant artillery method until the 1850s. By the late 18th century, artillery could use canister shot to defend itself from infantry or cavalry attack and this involved loading a tin or canvas container filled with small iron or lead balls instead of the usual cannonball

10.
Beersheba
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Beersheba also spelled Beer-Sheva is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Beersheba grew in importance in the 19th century, when the Ottoman Turks built a police station there. The Battle of Beersheba was part of a wider British offensive in World War I aimed at breaking the Turkish defensive line from Gaza to Beersheba. In 1947, Bir Seba, as it was known, was envisioned as part of the Arab state in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, following the declaration of Israels independence, the Egyptian army amassed its forces in Beersheba as a strategic and logistical base. In the Battle of Beersheba waged in October 1948, it was conquered by the Israel Defense Forces, Beersheba has grown considerably since then. Second and third waves of immigration have taken place since 1990, bringing Russian-speaking Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union, the Soviet immigrants have made the game of chess a major sport in Beersheba and the city is now a developing technology center. The city is now Israels national chess center, with more chess grandmasters per capita than any city in the world. There are several etymologies for the origin of the name Beersheba, the oath of Abraham and Abimelech is the one stated in Gen.21,31. Others include the seven wells dug by Isaac though only three or four have been identified, the oath of Isaac and Abimelech, the seven lambs that sealed Abraham, Beer is the Hebrew word for well, sheva could mean seven or oath. In this case the meaning is probably oath, as the ancient Hebrews believed seven to be a number. The Arabic toponym can also be translated as Seven wells or as commonly believed Lions well. During Ottoman administration city was referred as بلدية بءرالسبع Birüsseb, Beersheba is mainly dealt with in the Hebrew Bible in connection with the Patriarchs Abraham and Isaac, who both dig a well and close peace treaties with King Abimelech of Gerar at the site. Hence it receives its name twice, first after Abrahams dealings with Abimelech, the place is thus connected to two of the three Wife–sister narratives in the Book of Genesis. According to the Hebrew Bible, Beersheba was founded when Abraham and Abimelech settled their differences over a well of water, Abimelechs men had taken the well from Abraham after he had previously dug it so Abraham brought sheep and cattle to Abimelech to get the well back. He set aside seven lambs to swear that it was he that had dug the well, Abimelech conceded that the well belonged to Abraham and, in the Bible, Beersheba means Well of Seven or Well of the Oath. Beersheba is further mentioned in following Bible passages, Isaac built an altar in Beersheba, jacob had his dream about a stairway to heaven after leaving Beersheba. Beersheba was the territory of the tribe of Simeon and Judah, the sons of the prophet Samuel were judges in Beersheba. Saul, Israels first king, built a fort there for his campaign against the Amalekites, the prophet Elijah took refuge in Beersheba when Jezebel ordered him killed

Israeli officers of the Paratrooper Battalion 890 in 1955 with Moshe Dayan (standing, third from the left). Ariel Sharon is standing, second from the left and commando Meir Har Zion is standing furthest left.